Catheters are used to gain access inside a patient's body to perform diagnosis and treatments within the body, e.g., by inserting the catheter through a blood vessel. Many catheter imaging systems use a rotating imaging transducer within the catheter to obtain images within the patient's body. Typically, the imaging transducer is attached to the distal end of a drive cable that extends through a lumen of the catheter. The proximal end of the drive cable is detachably connectable to a motor within a motor drive unit for rotating the drive cable and the imaging transducer. In operation, it is desirable to verify that the catheter is properly locked to the motor drive unit before the motor can be turned on to avoid damage to the catheter or a injury to a person inserting his/her finger in the motor drive unit.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods for locking and detecting the presence of a catheter.